Welcome to this week’s Jingjing Newsletter. Let’s continue to explore under-reported sides of world news.
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in China on Thursday on his first foreign tour since winning re-election earlier this year. The two-day state visit included two cities: Beijing and Harbin, the administrative center of Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China, which borders five regions of the Russian Federation. During the visit, the two presidents signed and issued a joint statement on deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties, and witnessed the signing of more than 10 key cooperation documents. In Harbin, Putin also attended the eighth China-Russia Expo.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1e32c4f6-e368-4b3d-9285-3f75dcbbe984_1200x926.jpeg)
Around 450,000 Palestinians have been driven out of Rafah as the Israeli Defense Force pushes further into the city in the south of the Gaza Strip. At least 40 people were killed and others injured after midnight on Monday by an Israeli bombardment in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, and tens of thousands more Palestinians have been displaced in the north of the Strip as fighting once again intensifies in that area. The World Food Programme has announced that a full-blown famine has now broken out in parts of the enclave and has called for an immediate ceasefire. The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza has exceeded 35,000, according to health authorities in Gaza.
The Biden Administration has announced new tariffs on selected Chinese goods, including a 100% tariff on Electric Vehicles and a 50% tariff on solar panels. This is despite President Biden having previously expressed skepticism about the value of Trump-era tariffs directed at China, which he argued inflicted economic pain on U.S. farmers, consumers, and manufacturers who had to face elevated import prices. The move has drawn sharp criticism from environmental groups, business leaders, and politicians in both China and America. For example, Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado, said in a social media post, "This is horrible news for American consumers and a major setback for clean energy. Tariffs are a direct, regressive tax on Americans and this tax increase will hit every family," he added. Meanwhile, China's commerce ministry on Tuesday said the country "strongly opposed" the U.S.' decision to increase tariffs on a wide range of Chinese imports. The Chinese ministry urged Washington to stop its unilateralism mentality, adding that the move is "exacerbating" the tensions between the world's two biggest economies.
Despite a brutal police crackdown and a misinformation campaign aimed at discrediting them, the Palestinian solidarity protesters on US college campuses won a victory this week as Sonoma State University, a public school in northern California, has said that it will not enter partnerships with Israeli universities. This is in response to the demands of pro-Palestinian protests on campus. Israel receives $3.8bn in military aid from the US every year, and in recent months US lawmakers have made moves to criminalize calls for boycotts of Israel.
The French Pacific territory of New Caledonia has been rocked by violent protests this week. At least four have died, and hundreds more have been injured in the worst unrest seen in the territory in decades. France has responded by declaring a state of emergency, banning public gatherings and the social media app TikTok, and flying in hundreds of additional police and military personnel into the capital, Noumea. The indigenous Kanak people have long been campaigning for independence from French rule, but the island territory forms a key part of France’s geopolitical strategy in the Pacific, meaning the French government is reluctant to concede to indigenous demands. In recent decades, some 40,000 people from France have migrated to New Caledonia, but previously, these new arrivals were not allowed to vote in the territorial elections. However, the French government recently passed a law adding these new French arrivals to the electorate. With a population of only around 300,000, this new group of French voters has the potential to form a powerful voting bloc, and the Kanak people suspect the move is aimed at further diluting the power of the indigenous movement.
Australian whistleblower and former Army lawyer David McBride has been sentenced to 6 years in prison. The sentence comes almost 8 years after ABC, the Australian broadcaster, revealed for the first time that the Australian armed forces had committed war crimes while aiding the American occupation of Afghanistan. The ABC documentary, called The Afghan Files, was largely based on documents leaked by McBride. In a separate case last year, an Australian judge found Australia’s most decorated soldier Ben Roberts-Smith was “complicit in and responsible for the murder” of three Afghan men while on deployment. This ruling appears to corroborate McBride’s central claim, but, to date, McBride is the only person to go to prison as a result of the Australian investigation into war crimes committed in Afghanistan.
Jingjing’s Highlights in This Week
In this interview, Russian President Vladimir Putin explained the China-Russia relationship
“The China-Russia relationship wasn’t shaped by current international circumstances or response to world politics. Rather, it has been carefully nurtured and steadily developed over the past two decades…”
What You May Have Missed This Week in the World.
1. Full text: A Joint Statement on Deepening the China-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era (in Chinese)
2. President Xi: progress in China-Russia ties attributable to five principles
“Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that the progress in China-Russia relations is attributable to the two countries' commitment to the five principles of mutual respect, win-win cooperation, lasting friendship, strategic coordination, and fairness and justice.”
3. Full text: The Hypocrisy and Facts of the United States Foreign Aid
4. China 'strongly' opposes U.S. tariff hike on EVs, chips and others
“China's commerce ministry on Tuesday said the country "strongly opposed" the U.S.' decision to increase tariffs on a wide range of Chinese imports, including electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and semiconductors, adding that it will take resolute measures to defend its rights and interests.”
5. Sputnik International - 'Nobody Wins': US Hikes Tariffs on China as Economic Tensions Continue to Rise
Analysis of what the new US Tariffs could mean for the global economy.
6. Chinese premier extends sympathy to Slovak counterpart
“Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Friday extended his sympathy to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico over his injury in an attack. In his message, Li said he was shocked to learn that Fico was shot and wounded. Li expressed his sincere sympathy to Fico and wished him a speedy recovery.”
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe300b1b8-2534-4d02-8599-af445b85b6d0_1024x576.png)
7. ‘We will fight until Kanaky is free’: how New Caledonia caught fire
“The frustration that erupted into deadly violence in the French territory last week has been building for years.”
8. Qiao Collective - The Gates of the Great Continent: Palestine, China, and the War for Humanity’s Future
A deep-dive into the history of the relationship between China and Palestine, and a look at what the future of the relationship might be.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F852bbf35-e571-42ae-ae0c-9c58ef95ed82_1440x900.png)
9. Tricontinental - My Heart Makes My Head Swim: The Twentieth Newsletter (2024)
“Apartheid, occupation, and genocide are at the heart of the situation in Gaza – despite the baseless claim of Israel and its Global North allies that the use of these terms is tantamount to anti-Semitism.”
Page Editor: Jin Yulin
Call for Contributors!
I’ve added a “ feature article” section to my Substack homepage. It’s an open platform I specifically designed to let everyone share their own perspectives with the world. Feature articles can be related to any topic as long as you’re highly passionate about it! Article length is recommended to be within 700 - 900 words.
If you have an idea for a feature article, contact jjnewsletter@hotmail.com with a brief description of the article's focus.
Jingjing’s Social Media Links
X: @Jingjing_Li YouTube: @Jingjing_Li Facebook: Talk it Out with Li Jingjing
TikTok: @iamlijingjing Reddit: r/NewsWithJingjing Instagram: @jj_ontheroad
You may know of Patrick Lawrence and his writings Jingjing, but for those readers who don't his latest piece on the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jingping is well worth reading:
https://scheerpost.com/2024/05/18/patrick-lawrence-putin-and-xi-in-beijing-steps-into-the-21st-century/
Enjoy.